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[sevenlayermuddle]

I mentioned in another thread that my DG834GT had died.  Not many things are easily repairable these days, but I still like to understand what killed them if I can.   Upon internal inspection, my DG834GT was clearly suffering from electrolytic capacitor failure, with one (a 1000uF 6.3V) bulging profusely.

Judging from various forums I've been checking, this may well be a common weakness of the DG834GT.  Electrolytic capacitor failure is not exactly uncommon at the best of times, but it's largely down to the manufacturing quality of the underlying component manufacturer.    There's some good reading at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

Since I've now seen evidence of it in the DG834GT,  it does make me slightly wary of getting another Netgear.  That's not to say other people should be put off, you may be lucky and get one that lasts forever, or maybe different vintages used different cap's (mine were 'TEAPO').

My own bulging cap (now removed for testing) still holds a charge so it's probably not open-circuit and it's not got any drastic  leakage current, though I've no way to check it's exact capacitance value or it's ESR.    For the sake of a few pence I may try and replace it anyway and hope for the best.  I don't hold out much hope though, even if the bulging cap was the underlying cause of failure, it may have taken out other components as well.  

[roseway]

I very much doubt that Netgear are any more susceptible to this problem than any other manufacturer of domestic electronic equipment. Price is always a big issue in their component sourcing, and cheap electrolytic capacitors are widely used. If Netgears were noticeably less reliable than other makes it would very quickly get about.

More expensive tantalum capacitors are used in some types of equipment, such as mobile phones (where their small size is needed), but their price puts them out of reach of most domestic equipment.

[sevenlayermuddle]

I very much doubt that Netgear are any more susceptible to this problem than any other manufacturer of domestic electronic equipment. Price is always a big issue in their component sourcing, and cheap electrolytic capacitors are widely used. If Netgears were noticeably less reliable than other makes it would very quickly get about.

I'm sure you're right, and I'd not really want to put other people off Netgear.    I used to repair radios for pocket-money as a teenager in the 70s and, even then, failure of electrolytics probably accounted for about 50% of all faults.  But if that wiki article is to be believed (and note that it IS disputed), then certain capacitor brands, and vintages (especially the early noughties), are much more failure-prone than others.

In addition, routers tend to run 24/7, whereas most cheap electrolytics have a rated life specified in terms of failure rate after a couple of thousand hours or so.    Moreover, routers tend to run hot, which will only make matters worse.  I'd happily have paid a few bucks more for quality components or even, as you suggest, tantalum caps.  The unfortunate reallity however is that I suspect people don't rate life-excectancy very high on their wish lists when choosing gadgets, and Netgear do have to be price-competitive.

I stress that I'm not singling out Netgear, though .  If you google for strings like '+router +bulging +capacitors' then you get lots of hits, but nothing to suggest Netgears are any worse than others.

[roseway]

As you say, temperature is a major factor in the life of electrolytics. It's certainly worth mounting a router in such a way as to get the maximum possible airflow all round it. One thing about the 2700HGV which I believe you are considering, is that it's very large and 'airy' and consequently runs very cool. This must surely benefit its longevity.

[BritBrat]

Since I've now seen evidence of it in the DG834GT,  it does make me slightly wary of getting another Netgear.  That's not to say other people should be put off, you may be lucky and get one that lasts forever, or maybe different vintages used different cap's (mine were 'TEAPO').

That's easy to remember sounds like cheapo"

As for replacement Ebay is cheaper.